If I Disobey the Duke

Not Easy (4)

When it was time for menstruation, his wife couldn’t manage well for at least two days. She slept everywhere with her eyes squinted like a chick in the sun.

“Nothing has been decided exactly yet. We will tell you the details as soon as we get back from Cadis.” Even so, his gray eyes continued to examine her expression, wondering if she might have been sad.

Lily yawned loudly in lieu of an answer.

There are many things she wanted to ask him. But her physical strength was like a piece of paper.

“Okay. We’ll talk more next time.” Her eyelids were heavy, and Lily’s bed creaked as she pressed her face back into her pillow.

“Then I can’t… send you off. Actually, I want to go to Cadis together with you… I was going to tell you…” Lily, who had been muttering, gave another long yawn. She was awake, but her consciousness seemed to have disappeared below the surface.

“It’s okay. At least don’t get out of bed today.”

Soon, her breath began to slow down. He carefully covered her with the duvet so that his sleeping wife wouldn’t wake up.

He kissed her hair, her fresh scent filling his nose.

* * *

Lily swallowed the herbal pill brought by Buttercup, who had changed her water pouch a few times, before opening her puffy eyes.

Her meal portions were a little smaller than what she normally ate. Her body was still heavy, but she was content since she was feeling no pain.

She got up, hugging the lukewarm bag of water. She looked at the clock hanging on the bedroom wall.

It was a little past noon.

“I slept over three hours….”

Buttercup, who had been waiting for her, jumped up and approached her. “Madam! You woke up. How is your body?”

“Thanks, I am much better. Thanks.”

The maid replaced the lukewarm water pouch with a hot one. She walked to the tea table and retrieved a silver platter. “We also brought quite a variety of desserts here. The lord told me to prepare them as sweet as possible, so I brought one of each type. Eat comfortably in bed, Madam.”

Lily stared blankly at the plate. It was full of cakes that were elegant and colorful like jewels, and delicious cookies. Strawberries sprinkled with condensed milk, cut into bite-sized pieces, were also placed on a small plate.

She hesitated.

Cookies in bed?

“The sheet is changed every day anyway, so it doesn’t matter whether you spill the cream over or sprinkle it with powder. Madam, enjoy your meal!” Buttercup slid the plate onto the bed and pushed forward.

Eventually, Lily grabbed the bag of hot water to place it on her stomach and sat leaning against the head of the bed, crunching her cookies.

“Mmmm… I think I’ll live with this food…” A sigh escaped her mouth as the flavor spread through her mouth.

The dough with nuts added was crunchy and savory, and the sweetness of the dark chocolate that followed was excellent.

Her body was loose from the heat that warmed her stomach.

It was just like heaven. She closed her eyes and savored this luxury to the fullest, but then she suddenly opened her eyes.

Buttercup, who would have left her with a fresh farewell, was lingering at her bedside. Her always cheerful expression was bleak and her big eyes were rolling in embarrassment.

“Buttercup, what happened?”

“I’m sorry, Madam… Actually, I have something to tell you.”

It was as if she was waiting for Lily to feel better as she spoke at the same time.

Lily then realized that Buttercup was holding something in her hand.

It was a letter.

“The chieftain told me to give it to you. Madam.   Originally, he could have delivered it himself but he was busy…..”

It was just a letter. Buttercup seemed guilty even with just holding it, and she hesitated and held out her hand. “It was a letter I received yesterday, but you weren’t around when I planned to give it to you so I am only giving it now. I’m sorry.”

Buttercup was just a maid. Given the orders, what choice did she have?

She didn’t know who sent it.

Lily’s doubts swirled around her. Without Vlad’s knowledge of the loyal servant, would there be any reason to write to her?

The moment she put her dessert plate aside and looked at her correspondence, she knew everything. The seal was unfamiliar, but his handwriting was familiar.

“…Did the chief administrator really tell you to give it to me?”

“Yeah. That… If it makes you very uncomfortable, I’ll burn it right away, please feel free to tell me!”

Apparently, the fact that Buttercup had delivered this letter to Lily was uncomfortable.

“No, no….” Lily reached out and took her letter. As she looked closer, she could even hear his voice.

[To Sister Lily]

“I think the chieftain has been with him for a long time, so his heart has been shaken a little. He… Sir Isles is said to have appealed to him not to return to this letter for the last time…”

She couldn’t answer Lily. A heavy silence filled the bedroom as her hazy green eyes scanned her correspondence.

Buttercup shrugged and looked into her eyes. “I will go away, Madam…”

After Buttercup left the room, Lily looked at her correspondence for a long time. The letter in her hand was thick, as if it contained quite a few papers.

Her pulse pounded her chest like a giant drum.

After a period of eternity, she opened the letter from Dandelion.